BGTC: Bradley Ellis Brands Hatch preview

CROYDON RACER RETURNS FOR HOME RACE
Croydon's Bradley Ellis returns to his home circuit of Brands Hatch,
Kent, for the first time this season, as rounds 12 and 13 of the Avon
Tyres British GT Championship take place over the weekend of ...

CROYDON RACER RETURNS FOR HOME RACE

Croydon's Bradley Ellis returns to his home circuit of Brands Hatch,
Kent, for the first time this season, as rounds 12 and 13 of the Avon
Tyres British GT Championship take place over the weekend of 26-27
August.

Despite only switching from single-seaters to the more powerful GT
sportscar class this season, Bradley -- along with Team RPM co-driver
Alex Mortimer - has already proven to be a race winner in the GTC class
at the wheel of their Porsche 996. Now, as the season draws towards its
September finale, the pair have high hopes of adding to their tally at
the Kent venue.

Although the GTC class is proving to be highly competitive, Ellis and
Mortimer have won two rounds this season, including one on the highly
prestigious street circuit at Pau in France. A second success, in the
Sunday race at Rockingham on 13 August, merely confirmed that the pairing
is one to watch.

The Rockingham triumph was tinged with the disappointment of retirement
in Saturday's round, which blunted his championship challenge, but Ellis
admits that it takes some of the pressure off at Brands Hatch.

"Being taken out at Rockingham certainly dented our championship
chances, but it means that we can now go all out for victory," he
explained. "Although the Sunday win helped us to close back up in the
points, we are still a long way behind -- we need to win all three of the
remaining races and hope that our rivals don't score in any of them.

"Alex and I have shown that we are one of the strongest pairings on the
entire GT grid, and we want to keep showing that we are capable of
winning races. It has been an advantage to have two drivers running at
the same pace, and we have a good chance of winning again at Brands
Hatch."

Although he has raced all over Europe in his karting and Formula Renault
days, Ellis looks forward to returning to Brands Hatch, even if he has
yet to drive the 400bhp Porsche car there in anger.

"Brands Hatch is one of my favourite circuits, but I've only driven the
Formula Renault there," the south London teenager confirmed. "The GT
Porsche has more body roll to it, which gives us more to control,
especially through Paddock Hill bend, which is a tricky enough corner as
it is!

"We also have more power, which means more oversteer, so the weekend
will be a challenge, but it should be a good one for us.

"We should be really strong on the Grand Prix circuit, as our car is
built more for speed and can dominate on high-speed tracks, whereas our
rivals have been quicker out of corners on more technical tracks. I also
prefer the GP layout -- the Indy circuit at Brands only has four corners
and that isn't many for a one-hour race -- so the longer track will be
more of a challenge."

Qualifying for rounds 12 and 13 of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship
will take place on Saturday 26 June at 12.55pm and 1.25pm, with one race
on Saturday and Sunday. Racing on Saturday starts at 3.55pm with the Avon
Tyres British GT Championship on track at 4.40pm and starting again on
Sunday at 10am, with the GT cars in action at 2pm.